Obama, Putin speak briefly on Beijing summit sidelines

BEIJING, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke briefly on the sidelines
of APEC summit events on Monday night but did not delve into the
issues that divide their two countries, according to U.S. and
Russian officials.

The informal contact between the two leaders, who have been
deeply at odds over Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict and
its backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, took place
during events to welcome participants to the Chinese-hosted
summit.

Both sides played down the significance of the moment.
"They only had a brief encounter where they didn't have time to
cover issues," a senior U.S. official said. "We'll let you know
if they interact/cover issues tomorrow."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also described a short
exchange while holding out prospects for further discussions.
Both will also attend a G20 summit in Brisbane later this week.

"There were no talks. They greeted each other," Peskov told
Russian journalists in Beijing. "They exchanged a few lines. The
presidents assume they will have a chance to talk on the
sidelines (of the G20) in the coming days."

They would seem to have much to discuss but little chance
of finding common ground. Communicating mostly by telephone over
the past year, their occasional interactions have been described
as tense as U.S.-Russia ties have sunk to a post-Cold War low.

Obama has insisted that Russia stop supporting pro-Russian
separatists in eastern Ukraine, while Putin has dismissed the
sanctions that the United States and the European Union have
slapped on Moscow as counterproductive.

The two last had a brief informal meeting on the margins
of D-Day anniversary celebrations in in Normandy in June.

White House officials had said in advance that there were no
plans for formal talks between Obama and Putin at the
Asia-Pacific conference or at the G20 summit. But they said they
expected the two to find time to talk informally.
(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Alexei Anishchuk in Beijing;
additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow; editing by
Ralph Boulton)